5 fashion-forward women to follow for style inspiration

While lockdown may have stopped us from wearing our real clothes, a.k.a non-sweat pants or athleisure gear, it has been a perfect time to prep for post-lockdown fashion. If you are anything like me, following fashionable people on Instagram has made me so excited for the chance to go out wearing amazing outfits again. To share some of my inspiration I decided to write this post on 10 fashion-forward women to follow for serious style inspiration. In addition to acting in the fashion game, many of these women are inspiring and follow-worthy because of their side hustles, messaging or product lines. In short, these are inspiring women to help us all come out of quarantine motivated and fashionable.

Aimee Song

Aimee Song is one of the OG fashion bloggers, starting her blog SongofStyle in 2008. Since starting she has amassed a huge blog following of over 2 million blog page views each month (something us smaller bloggers could only dream of). As for social media, she has 4.6 million followers who tune in for her fashion posts spanning all over the world. Personally, I really connected with Aimee Song through her Youtube vlogs that follow her through her workdays as a blogger, brand partnerships and fashion week. As a wannabe fashion employee, I found these vlogs to be so inspiring and entertaining. From Tibi to Chloe, Self Portrait to Jacquemus -- Aimee song gives a BTS view of what attending a fashion show entails. For anyone who wants to learn more about brands and virtually experience fashion week -- Aimee Songs YT page is a must.

Aimee's clothing brand, Song of Style, is created in collaboration with Revolve. The pieces stretch from on-trend lounge wear to vacation worthy sets. Lastly, Aimee Song has a beauty collaboration, Your Favorite Kit, with the skincare brand Biossance.

Margot Lee

This one is *very* biased as Margot Lee is one of my favorite youtubers and her instagram is one I return to all the time for inspo. Margot just graduated from college and has built a lifestyle brand sharing her best life, style and college tips. Margot’s style is the perfect inspiration for anyone in college as it provides style inspiration for class, going out or even for internships. While I started watching her for her college content, I have become a huge fan of her focus on her career, branding and future. She inspires her audience and informs them about what working in the wild world of social media is really like.

Recently she has begun working with the HomefromCollege startup that is working to connect college students to valuable resources during this difficult time. Her content is honest about what post-grad life looks like in 2020 while bringing a positive outlook to her audience. In addition to fashion content, with brand collaborations with Marc Jacobs and Everlane, tune in for #mixieswith Margot livestreams, for cocktail and coffee recipes.

Leandra Medine

Leandra Medine is the founder of Manrepeller.com, a fashion blog that promotes dressing for yourself even if it repels men. The blog, and it’s focus, use humor as a way to point out the pressure placed on women to dress in a way that is appealing to men. The blog completely rebels against this idea as it supports dressing for oneself in whichever way this may be.

Leandra is famous in her own right for her honest Instagram feed and fearless looks. After graduating from the New School in NYC, she started the blog and brought the terms 'man repelling' and ‘arm party’ into focus. Medine is an accomplished author, with her first book “Manrepeller: Seeking love, finding overalls”, and is an investor in skincare brand Drunk Elephant.

The blog is one of my favorite places to read up on all the new trends in fashion, beauty and to see their amazing editorial photoshoots. Leandra and the Man Repeller team launched their shoe brand, MR by man Repeller, and Repeller, an accessories brand, that presents fashionable accessories with a unique flair to their fan base (both currently unavailable). In addition to manrepeller.com, enjoy their content on Youtube, Instagram and on their podcasts Monocycle and The Call.

Ty Haney

Ty Haney is the founder of Outdoor Voices, a recreation brand focused on raising endorphins and motivating people to keep #doingthings. The brand is extremely popular on Instagram and has a cult following (which I will admit to being a part of). The apparel is different from traditional athletic brands like Nike that focus on results and competition. Outdoor Voices motivates people to get moving no matter what the results may be. Haney was the CEO of Outdoor Voices until very recently and has been a huge style inspiration as well as role model to me. If you want to learn more about her experience as a female founder check out this episode of the How I Built This podcast by NPR.

Outdoor Voices stand by their mission strongly and bring colorful recreation wear to market. The brand, and Haney, stand out from the crowd because they popularized something different for the industry. Follow her for #girlboss insppo and for some unique fashion inspiration.

Olivia Frost

Hailing from London Olivia Frost is an anti-fast fashion influencer known for her pastel feed. With her casual yet fashionable style, mostly wearing oversized pants and vintage sweatshirts, she has become an icon of cool but casual style. She is best known for her instagram, which she started while she was a student at Queen Mary University in London. Currently, Frost works as an influencer and content creator full time with her focus also being on Youtube. She has worked with brands such as Urban Outfitters and Aldo while sharing her love of vintage clothes to her followers.